It Always Started With You

The green grass stretched far into the distance. Their blades gently swaying with the light breeze that wafted through the air. The serene calm stood in contrast to the storm of emotions brewing within Zida, Sina, and Toyo.

“There’s an old house just up the hill of this pasture, head straight and you can’t miss it. That place has been a part of my father’s lineage from the era of the Eyrie Empire. It’s been uninhabited for centuries. No one will come looking for you there.”

As Toyo and Zida’s eyes met, the usual chill that passed between them softened into an unexpected warmth, as if finally seeing the heart within one another. Sina then stepped forward wrapped her arms around Toyo, pulling her into and firm hug; every emotion felt within her clasp.

Toyo would stay at the pasture until Zida could ensure that she would be safe from the council and the Sovereign. It was the only plan they could pursue with what time they had left on her stay of execution, but Sina worried that leaving her alone would be too risky.

“Word of the commissioner’s death likely already reached the Aulden Federation,” Zida explained, “They’re bound to push for war with Adikos. The council may deem it necessary to kill you just to appease them. The words of the prophecy have now been sewn into the blanket of chaos.”

Zida turned back towards the carriage, but Sina found herself reluctant to part with Toyo. “Maybe I should at least stay,” she pledged, but Zida rejected her suggestion.

“I’m going to need your help Sina. You know why.”

With her face heavy with pain, Sina grasped onto Toyo one last time before following behind Zida into the carriage. As they prepared to depart, Zida reiterated his warning to Toyo.

“Don’t leave the pasture unless we come back for you.”

Before long, they set off down the road, leaving Toyo uncertain as to when they would return.

Trotting up the hill Toyo finally came upon the old house, graced by a solitary tree off to the side. It’s crystal-blue leaves fluttered in the wind, conjuring up dark images of the Urumar Garden back in the Southern Region. Toyo lingered on the thought of how something so beautiful could wear such different faces, shaped by the circumstances surrounding it.

Pressing onwards she stood before the house and gently placed her hand against its wooden door. Glancing at the open horizon one last time, she then pushed it open and stepped inside. Only to find that she wasn’t the first person to Arrive that day.

Upon finally arriving at the Royal Manor, Zida Summoned an emergency gathering with the Council of Silens, but when his request would go unanswered, he took it upon himself to enter the back quarters of the Chamber of Accord.

“Some things only present themselves when the end has fallen upon it.”

Seated across from Zida and Sina was none other than Seehr, his face shadowed with confusion.

“Why didn’t you answer my request, Seehr,” Zida questioned, “you should avoid overstepping your position.”

Seehr would not be fazed by Zida’s thin threats, however, as what presented itself before him would have him questioning the very world he’d thought he understood so well.

Gesturing his hands towards the scene behind him, he opened up Zida’s view to the collapsed corpses of the Six Spaiens.

“What have you done?!” Zida roared, but Seehr’s dull expression took Zida aback.

“See with your eyes, not with your emotions, Your Highness,” Seehr replied.

Sina then placed her hand on Zida’s shoulder, jolting the thought that he wished to supress all along.

“The Sapiens should be too powerful to be manipulated,” Zida uttered, but his attempt to deceive himself failed as deep down he was forced to confront the undeniable truth. “Seehr, did you sense anything wrong with them?” he asked. The arbitrator, however, would look upon the bodies with his confidence wavering.

“There was always the sense that they were acting against their own instincts. When my and their thoughts would link, I could sometimes feel it…” he then faced Zida, “I think it was a cry for help…”

With a quiet turn, Seehr then stepped past the bodies of the Sapiens and moved towards the exit at the far side of the room, leaving what remained in Zida’s hands.

“The Adikos Empire may fall today, Your Highness… Perhaps the prophets were right all along.”

Stepping through the door Toyo’s eyes met the face of a woman who peered back at her with an elegant smile, her gaze warm and oddly alluring. “Who are you?” Toyo asked, reluctant to let her guard down.

“My name is Steia-Arkanisgula. But you should have already known that, child. You really do forget too easily...”

Toyo returned a twisted stare, the woman appearing as nothing short of an enigma.

As Zida and Sina faced each other, their eyes silently acknowledged the task ahead. Then his bag pulsed with a glowing light, signifying that the transfer script had been used. Unraveling the paper, he and Sina peered at the words they’d received from Lugal. Their disbelief growing with every word.

Your Highness, it is with great regret that I must inform you. Toyo Futamata cannot be trusted. For she has killed us all.

The meaning behind the message was too vague to grasp, but a striking feeling pierced Zida’s gut.

Had he made the wrong decision all along…